The phenomenon of Boko Haram insurgency in Northeastern Nigeria and other parts of the country has turned the country into one of the insecured states in Sub-Saharan Africa and in the world at large. The issue which started in form of a radical preaching in 2009 led to a violent clash between the Boko Haram sect and the security agencies in Borno, a Northeastern state which heralded the formation of an insurgent group that later metamorphosed into a violent terror

Poverty is one of the major socio-economic problems in Nigeria which draws the concern of policy-makers in Nigeria of recently. In response to the scourge of poverty in Nigeria, the civilian government of Obasanjo introduced Poverty Alleviation Programme (PAP) in 2000 but later, PAP was halted and replaced with National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP) in 2001. NAPEP has a multi-various approach to poverty eradication including Capacity Acquisition Programme (CAP) which is an emphasis on skills acquisition and training for self-reliance. The major problem is the way poverty is increasing in alarming rate despite various efforts by government to eradicate it in the period of this study. This study examined CAP in Gombe state and its impact on poverty eradication effort. The methodology adopted for this research is the use of primary source where interview was conducted with one local government chosen from each of the three zones of the state. Secondary source was also used where literature was reviewed theoretical framework was formed to support the arguments presented. The data obtained were presented and analysed together with the hitherto existing statistics on this area. The research discovered that CAP as a component of NAPEP programme achieved little success in poverty eradication as a result of government’s unseriousness, corruption and negligence. Thus, the policy is not ideal for poverty eradication approach. The best means of poverty eradication is employment generation through provision of small scale and large-scale industries, eradication of corruption and genuine political will from the part of policy makers.

The protracted proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) across the globe to Africa and specifically in Northern Nigeria has led to the explosion of social crises which culminated in insecurity situation in the region for more than a decade now. Armed conflicts emanated from the effects of the spread of SALW across the three geopolitical zones in the North which manifested in the Boko Haram insurgency in the Northeast, farmers-herders conflict in the Northcentral, armed banditry in the Northwest and ethnoreligious conflicts in addition to kidnappings in the region. The objective of this study is a critical and thorough investigation of the SALW in exacerbating armed conflicts in general in the Northern part of Nigeria. The problem is the scenario in which the armed conflicts are threatening to entirely destabilised the region and the manner in which the SALW are increasing despite the global efforts to contain their spread for security reasons. This research used a qualitative method of data collection and analysis. Both the primary and secondary sources were used. The primary source was the interview conducted with selected informants in the relevant area of study. The secondary source was the use of available literature on the subject matter of study and the discussions were made using thematic analytical interpretations. The research discovered that the rampant armed conflicts in Northern Nigeria is the reminiscent of the spread of SALW in the region which tantamount to the present critical security situation. Also, weak policy and political institutions contributed to the spread of SALW which means there is a need for a strong policy approach. The work recommends among other numerous suggestions that efforts should be intensified in intelligence gathering to detect the networking of the racketeers in the armed business and contain them appropriately as well as total blockage of the weapons’ route.

Globalisation is a process which transformed the world into a single political economy. Africa is one of the continents that is sharply affected by globalisation. This paper examined the impacts of globalisation in consolidating Africa's economic and political dependency and underdevelopment. The problem is globalisation comes up with many opportunities, especially for developing countries, but, Africa failed to utilize the opportunities. The paper is a conceptual paper which used secondary sources of data for analysis and interpretations. The work discovered that Africa found itself more caged in a circle of dependency and underdevelopment despite all the trade negotiations, open opportunities, and technological transfer. Thus, the paper suggested that Africa cannot exist in isolation especially in this wave of globalisation, but there is a need for an internal restructuring to accommodate diversities and complexities of external forces and balance them with internal advantages for local industrialisation, genuine regional integration, and intensive trade development.

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